Method for Delivering Device and Server Capabilities

ABSTRACT

A method is provided for delivering the capabilities of user agents. The method includes a user agent sending a session initiation protocol (SIP) message containing a Contact Header containing a Push Resource Identifier feature tag containing at least one push resource.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/074,934, filed Jun. 23, 2008, by Youngae Kim, et al, entitled “Method for Determining Device Capability” (33927-US-PRV-4214-09900), which is incorporated by reference herein as if reproduced in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The IP (Internet Protocol) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is a standardized architecture for providing multimedia services and voice-over-IP calls to both mobile and fixed devices. The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) been standardized and governed primarily by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as a signaling protocol for creating, modifying, and terminating IMS-based calls or sessions. As used herein, the terms “user agent” and “UA” might in some cases refer to mobile devices such as mobile telephones, personal digital assistants, handheld or laptop computers, and similar devices that have telecommunications capabilities. Such a UA might consist of a device and its associated removable memory module, such as but not limited to a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) that includes a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) application, a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) application, or a Removable User Identity Module (R-UIM) application. Alternatively, such a UA might consist of the device itself without such a module. In other cases, the term “UA” might refer to devices that have similar capabilities but that are not transportable, such as fixed line telephones, desktop computers, set-top boxes, or network nodes. When a network node acts as a UA, the network node could act on behalf of another function such as a mobile or fixed line device and simulate or emulate the device. For example, for some UAs, the IMS SIP client that would typically reside on the device can actually reside in the network as well and can relay SIP message information to the device using optimized protocols. In other words, some functions that were traditionally carried out by a UA can be distributed in the form of a remote UA, where the remote UA represents the UA in the network. The term “UA” can also refer to any hardware or software component that can terminate a communication session that could include, but is not limited to, a SIP session. Also, the terms “user agent”, “UA”, “user equipment”, “UE”, and “node” might be used synonymously herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of this disclosure, reference is now made to the following brief description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and detailed description, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts.

FIG. 1 is a message flow diagram according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is another message flow diagram according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a processor and related components suitable for implementing the several embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be understood at the outset that although illustrative implementations of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure are provided below, the disclosed systems and/or methods may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or in existence. The disclosure should in no way be limited to the illustrative implementations, drawings, and techniques illustrated below, including the exemplary designs and implementations illustrated and described herein, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims along with their full scope of equivalents.

Technology for communication systems is moving away from the telephony-based concept of only a single identity (e.g., a telephone number) uniquely mapping to only a single line or device. SIP and other internet-based communication technologies support the concept of having multiple devices registered with the same user identity (such as a Public User Identity or PUI). Each device may have its own capabilities, such as supporting different media types and codecs. SIP provides a way for one SIP UA to query and be notified of the capabilities of another UA (e.g., support for various media types including text and other types of messaging along with audio and video, all within the same session or multiple sessions).

These capabilities may eliminate the need for a user to have different identities for a home phone, personal mobile phone, work phone, vacation home phone, laptop computer VoIP client, fax machine, etc., and may allow the user to be reachable at whichever device the user may be using at the time. This can also resolve the issue of having a large list of device-oriented contacts per user in an address book and having to decide which device is best to reach the user when attempting to establish communication.

Often in IP- and SIP-based communications, network-based servers provide services and content to UAs (often termed clients). The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) SIP Push Enabler is an example of a system where a network-based server, known as a Push Sender Agent, provides an efficient way to directly deliver contents to a SIP Push client, known as the Push Receiver Agent, without the SIP Push client needing to first request content from the SIP Push Sender Agent

When SIP network-based servers are used, it may be necessary for a UA, such as a SIP Push Receiver Agent, to obtain the capabilities supported by a server, such as a SIP Push Sender Agent. The SIP OPTIONS method, as defined in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comments (RFC) 3261, can be used to query and obtain the capabilities of a server.

Similarly, a SIP network-based server, such as a SIP Push Sender Agent, may need to obtain the capabilities supported by a UA, such as a SIP Push Receiver Agent. Again, the SIP OPTIONS method can be used to query and obtain the capabilities of a UA. The SIP 200 OK response to the SIP OPTIONS request can include a body containing information about the capabilities of the UA. This information may be in addition to the capability information specified in IETF RFC 3261 to be transported in the SIP headers of the 200 OK response to the SIP OPTIONS request. This body could contain either capability information such as an OMA UA Profile document or a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) or similar identifier that points to the document containing capability information such as the OMA UA Profile document.

Since a UA may not be available (due to, for example, power off and power on or to the loss and regaining of wireless coverage in the case of wireless devices), the UA may need to register with the system. The server might need to discover that a UA has become available and may do so through one or more mechanisms. In one mechanism, the server could determine whether the UA is available by receiving a SIP OPTIONS request from the UA. In another mechanism, the server could subscribe to the Registration Event package and receive a notification (SIP NOTIFY request), as defined in IETF RFC 3680, indicating that the UA has registered. In another mechanism, the server could receive a SIP REGISTER request known as a third party registration, as defined in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Specification (TS) 23.218 and 3GPP TS 24.229, indicating that the UA has registered.

Once the server has detected that the UA has registered, the server might query the UA for its capabilities using a SIP OPTIONS request. In the case of the OMA SIP Push Enabler, the server may obtain the OMA UA Profile document for the UA. However, there may be an issue if there are multiple UAs registered for the same user, since a SIP OPTIONS request is normally addressed to the registered Address of Record (AoR) or PUI of the user. In such a case, it may not be possible to determine which of the registered UAs will receive the SIP OPTIONS request from the server and return its capabilities.

Since SIP OPTIONS requests are not forked according to IETF RFC 3261, the server may need to ensure that a SIP OPTIONS request is routed to the UA that the server just discovered had registered. A SIP OPTIONS request does not establish a dialog, so even if the server determines that the UA is available through receiving a SIP OPTIONS request from the UA, the server may not be able to send a SIP OPTIONS request back using a SIP dialog. Returning a SIP OPTIONS request using a SIP dialog could ensure that the SIP OPTIONS request reached the UA that sent the original SIP OPTIONS request. Thus, when a SIP Push Sender Agent sends a SIP Push client (Push Receiver Agent) a SIP OPTIONS request using a PUI or AoR associated with multiple UAs used by the same user, it may not be clear which of the UAs the request will be sent to.

In an embodiment, a server, such as a Push Sender Agent, uses a GRUU (Globally Routable UA URI) to address a SIP OPTIONS request to a UA, such as a Push Receiver Agent. A GRUU is a URI that identifies both a UA and its associated PUI or AoR. A GRUU can be obtained by a UA during the registration process as specified in the IETF document [draft-ietf-sip-gruu]. In order to send the SIP OPTIONS request to the correct UA, the server, such as the Push Sender Agent, may need to obtain the GRUU of the UA that it has discovered has registered.

In an embodiment, there may be three ways for the SIP Push Sender Agent to discover the public GRUU: via the SIP OPTIONS method; via the SIP SUBSCRIBE/NOTIFY mechanism described in IETF RFC 3265, using the registration event package described in IETF RFC 3680 and the extension defined in the IETF document [draft-ietf-sipping-gruu-reg-events]; or using a third party registration mechanism that contains a body containing the contents of the original SIP REGISTER request. Each of these mechanisms will be described in detail below. When the SIP Push Sender Agent determines the public GRUU value of the SIP Push Receiver Agent, the SIP Push Sender Agent sends a SIP OPTIONS request with a Request-URI portion that contains the public GRUU of the SIP Push Receiver Agent. Upon receiving this request, the SIP Push Receiver Agent includes the URI of its UAProfile in the body of a SIP 200 OK message (or alternatively includes the UAProfile document directly in the body). The SIP Push Receiver Agent then sends the SIP 200 OK to the SIP Push Sender Agent, thus providing its capabilities to the SIP Push Sender Agent.

In an embodiment, a UA (or Push Receiver Agent) sends a server (or Push Sender Agent) a SIP OPTIONS request that includes the GRUU of the Push Receiver Agent. The GRUU might be included in the Contact header of the SIP OPTIONS request. The Push Sender Agent then sends the Push Receiver Agent a 200 OK message containing information about the Push Sender Agent's capabilities. The Push Sender Agent then requests the capabilities of the Push Receiver Agent by sending a SIP OPTIONS request to the GRUU that the Push Receiver Agent provided in the previous SIP OPTIONS request. The Push Receiver Agent can then return a 200 OK message containing information about the Push Receiver Agent's capabilities. In some cases, the 200 OK message contains capability information of the Push Receiver Agent such as the Push Receiver Agent's OMA UA Profile document, and in other cases, the 200 OK message contains a URI that points to capability information of the Push Receiver Agent such as the Push Receiver Agent's OMA UA Profile document.

Alternatively, the Push Sender Agent might include its capabilities in a 200 OK response to a SIP OPTIONS request from the Push Receiver Agent but might not send a SIP OPTIONS request to the Push Receiver Agent's GRUU to request the Push Receiver Agent's capabilities.

Examples of procedures that may be used at the Push Receiver Agent and the Push Sender Agent under these embodiments are provided below.

Procedures at the Push Receiver Agent

-   -   When generating a SIP OPTIONS request according to [RFC 3261]         the Push Receiver Agent:         -   1. SHALL generate a SIP OPTIONS request.         -   2. SHALL set the Request-URI of the SIP OPTIONS request to             the URI of the Push Sender Agent.         -   3. MAY insert the URI of the Push Receiver Agent in the             P-Preferred-Identity header according to rules and             procedures of [RFC 3325].         -   4. SHALL if the Push Receiver Agent obtained a public GRUU             during registration according to the rules and procedures of             [draft-ietf-sip-gruu] include the public GRUU in the Contact             header.         -   5. SHALL include the Push Resource Identifier feature tag             containing the values of all the push resource's supported             by the Push Receiver Agent in the Contact header as defined             in section 9.1.         -   6. SHALL if the Push Receiver Agent obtained a public GRUU             during registration according to the rules and procedures of             [draft-ietf-sip-gruu] insert gruu in the Supported header.         -   7. SHALL include an Accept header containing the MIME types,             message/external-body and application/oma_PushOptions as             specified in [RFC 4483].         -   8. SHALL include all the SIP methods that the Push Receiver             Agent supports in the Allow header.         -   9. SHALL include a User-Agent header containing the model,             vendor, and version of the Push Receiver Agent.         -   10. SHALL send the SIP OPTIONS request towards the SIP/IP             Core according to the procedures of the SIP/IP Core.     -   Upon receiving the SIP 200 “OK” response to the SIP OPTIONS         request the Push Receiver Agent:         -   1. SHALL provide the Push Capabilities of the Push Sender             Agent included in the Contact header according to [RFC3840]             to the Push Applications.         -   2. SHALL provide the SIP methods supported by the Push             Sender Agent included in the Allow header to the Push             Applications.         -   3. SHALL if the SIP 200 “OK” response contains a body             retrieve the body and process according to the             Content-Disposition.     -   Upon receiving a SIP OPTIONS request containing an Accept header         containing the MIME types, message/external-body and         application/Dev-cap, the Push Receiver Agent:         -   1. SHALL verify that a P-Asserted-Identity header is present             and the URI in P-Asserted-Identity header is trusted. If the             authorization check fails, the Push Receiver Agent SHALL             return a SIP 403 “Forbidden” response.         -   2. SHALL generate a SIP 200 “OK” response according to             [RFC3261].         -   3. SHALL if the Push Receiver Agent obtained a public GRUU             during registration according to the rules and procedures of             [draft-ietf-sip-gruu] include the public GRUU in the Contact             header.         -   4. SHALL include all the SIP methods that the Push Receiver             Agent supports in the Allow header.         -   5. SHALL if the Push Receiver Agent obtained a public GRUU             during registration according to rules and procedures of             [draft-ieff-sip-gruu] insert gruu in the Supported header.         -   6. SHALL include the Push Resource Identifier feature tag             containing the values of all the push resource's supported             by the Push Receiver Agent in the Contact header.         -   7. SHALL include a User-Agent header containing the model,             vendor, and version of the Push Receiver Agent.         -   8. SHALL according to the rules and procedures of [RFC             4483]. include a Content-Type header containing:             -   a. the MIME type message/external-body,             -   b. “URL” in the ACCESS_TYPE parameter,             -   c. the HTTP URL of the [OMA_UAProf] document in the URL                 parameter.         -   9. SHALL include a body according to the rules and             procedures of [RFC 4483]. containing:             -   a. application/Dev-cap in the Content-Type,             -   b. “attachment” in the Content-Disposition,             -   c. A Content-ID according to the rules and procedures of                 [RFC 4483].         -   10. SHALL send the SIP 200 “OK” response towards the SIP/IP             Core according to the procedures of the SIP/IP Core.

Procedures at the Push Sender Agent

-   -   Upon receiving a SIP OPTIONS request the Push Sender Agent:         -   1. SHALL verify that a P-Asserted-Identity header is present             and the URI in P-Asserted-identity header is trusted. If the             authorization check fails, the Push Sender Agent SHALL             return a SIP 403 “Forbidden” response.         -   2. SHALL generate a SIP 200 “OK” response according to             [RFC3261].         -   3. SHALL include a Push Resource Identifier feature tag             containing the accepted push resource values in the Contact             header.         -   4. SHALL include all the SIP methods that the Push Sender             Agent supports in the Allow header.         -   5. SHALL send the SIP 200 “OK” response towards the SIP/IP             Core according to the procedures of the SIP/IP Core.     -   The Push Sender Agent SHALL query for capabilities of the Push         Receiver Agent and the Push Sender Agent:         -   1. SHALL generate a SIP OPTIONS request according to [RFC             3261].         -   2. SHALL set the Request-URI of the SIP OPTIONS request to             the public user identity of the Push Receiver Agent from the             P-Asserted-Identity in the received SIP OPTIONS request or             the public GRUU if the public GRUU was received in the             Contact header in the received SIP OPTIONS request.         -   3. MAY insert the URI of the Push Sender Agent in the             P-Asserted-Identity header according to rules and procedures             of [RFC 3325].         -   4. SHALL include a Push Resource Identifier feature tag             containing the acceptable push resource values in the             Contact header as defined in section 9.1.         -   5. SHALL include an Accept header containing the MIME types,             message/external-body and application/Dev-cap as specified             in [RFC 4483].         -   6. SHALL include all the SIP methods that the Push Sender             Agent supports in the Allow header.         -   7. SHALL send the SIP OPTIONS request towards the SIP/IP             Core according to the procedures of the SIP/IP Core.     -   Upon receiving the SIP 200 “OK” response to the SIP OPTIONS         request the Push Sender Agent:         -   1. SHOULD if the SIP 200 “OK” contains a body containing a             Content-Type of application/Dev-cap and a HTTP URL of a             specified document, store the URL and retrieve the             associated document according to the rules and procedures of             [RFC 4483] to obtain the device capabilities.

FIG. 1 depicts an example message flow between a SIP Push Receiver Agent 10, a SIP/IP Core 20, and a SIP PUSH Sender Agent 30 according to this embodiment. At event 110, the SIP Push Receiver Agent sends the SIP/IP Core a SIP OPTIONS request containing in the Contact header its public GRUU value, which it obtained during the registration process, along with the Push Resource Identifier feature tag (+g.oma.pusheventapp) containing the values of the push resources supported by the Push Receiver Agent. The following is an embodiment of this SIP OPTIONS request:

OPTIONS sip:pushserver@network.net SIP/2.0 Via: SIP/2.0/UDP pc33.atlanta.com;branch=z9hG4bKhjhs8ass877 Max-Forwards: 70 To: <sip:pushserver@network.net> From: Alice <sip:alice@atlanta.com>;tag=1928301774 P-Preferred-Identity: “Alice” <sip:alice@atlanta.com>; Call-ID: a84b4c76e66710 CSeq: 63104 OPTIONS Supported: gruu Contact: <sip:alice@atlanta.com>;gr=urn:uuid:f81d4fae-7dec-11d0- a765-00a0c91e6bf6;+g.oma.pusheventapp=“mms” Allow: INVITE, ACK, CANCEL, OPTIONS, BYE, MESSAGE User-Agent: vendor=“vendor.example.net”;model=“Z-phone”;version=“1.2.3” Accept: message/external-body,application/oma_PushOptions Content-Length: 0

It can be seen that the Contact header portion of this SIP OPTIONS request includes the GRUU (indicated by the “gr” parameter) of the Push Receiver Agent that sent the request. At event 120, the SIP/IP Core forwards the SIP OPTIONS request to the SIP Push Sender Agent.

At event 130, the SIP Push Sender Agent sends a SIP 200 OK containing information related to the capabilities of the SIP Push Sender Agent. The SIP 200 OK may also contain a body containing additional Push options and/or a URI from which additional Push Options might be obtained. The following is an embodiment of this SIP 200 OK response:

SIP/2.0 200 OK Via: SIP/2.0/UDP pc33.atlanta.com;branch=z9hG4bKhjhs8ass877;received=192.0.2.4 To: <sip:pushserver@network.com>;tag=93810874 From: Alice <sip:alice@atlanta.com>;tag=1928301774 Call-ID: a84b4c76e66710 CSeq: 63104 OPTIONS Contact: <sip:pushserver@network.com>;+g.oma.pusheventapp=“mms” Allow: INVITE, ACK, CANCEL, OPTIONS, BYE, MESSAGE Supported: gruu Content-Type: message/external-body; ACCESS-TYPE=URL; URL=“http://www.example.net/PushOptionsSupported”; EXPIRATION=“ Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT”; size=231 Content-Length: 105 Content-Type: text/html Content-Disposition: attachment Content-ID: a4e55247127827d@example.net

At event 140, the SIP/IP Core forwards the SIP 200 OK to the SIP Push Receiver Agent. At event 150, the SIP Push Sender Agent sends the SIP/IP Core a SIP OPTIONS request containing the SIP Push Receiver Agent's public GRUU, which the SIP Push Receiver Agent provided in the previous SIP OPTIONS request. That is, the Push Sender Agent requests the capabilities of the Push Receiver Agent that has the specified GRUU. The following is an embodiment of this SIP OPTIONS request:

OPTIONS sip:alice@atlanta.com;gr=urn:uuid:f81d4fae-7dec-11d0-a765-00a0c91e6bf6 SIP/2.0 Via: SIP/2.0/UDP pc33.atlanta.com;branch=z9hG4bKhjhs8ass877 Max-Forwards: 70 To: <sip:alice@atlanta.com> From: <sip:pushserver@network.com>;tag=1928301779 P-Asserted-Identity: <sip:pushserver@network.com> Call-ID: a84b4c76e66719 CSeq: 63104 OPTIONS Contact: <sip:pushserver@network.com>,+g.oma.pusheventapp=“mms” Allow: INVITE, ACK, CANCEL, OPTIONS, BYE, MESSAGE Supported: gruu Accept: message/external-body,application/Dev-cap Content-Length: 0

It can be seen that the GRUU of the SIP Push Receiver Agent is included in the Request-URI portion of this SIP OPTIONS request. At event 160, the SIP/IP Core forwards the SIP OPTIONS request to the SIP Push Receiver Agent. At event 170, the SIP Push Receiver Agent sends a SIP 200 OK response containing information related to the capabilities of the SIP Push Receiver Agent to the SIP/IP Core. The SIP 200 OK response may also contain a body containing additional Push options or a URI from which additional Push Options can be obtained. The following is an embodiment of this SIP 200 OK response:

SIP/2.0 200 OK Via: SIP/2.0/UDP pc33.atlanta.com;branch=z9hG4bKhjhs8ass877;received=192.0.2.4 To: <sip:alice@atlanta.com>;tag=93810879 From: <sip:pushserver@network.com>;tag=1928301779 Call-ID: a84b4c76e66719 CSeq: 63104 OPTIONS Supported: gruu Contact: <sip:alice@atlanta.com>;gr=urn:uuid:f81d4fae-7dec-11d0- a765-00a0c91e6bf2;+g.oma.pusheventapp=“mms” Allow: INVITE, ACK, CANCEL, OPTIONS, BYE, METHOD User-Agent: vendor=“vendor.example.net”;model=“Z-phone”;version=“1.2.3” Content-Length: 274 Content-Type: message/external-body; ACCESS-TYPE=“URL” URL=“http://www.example.com/useragentprofile/07242002”; EXPIRATION =“Mon, 23 June 2008 09:00:00 GMT”; size=4123 Content-Type: application/Dev-cap Content-Disposition: attachment Content-ID: 4e5562cd1214427d@example.net

It can be seen that the Content-Type portion of this SIP 200 OK response includes a URL from which the capabilities of the Push Receiver Agent can be obtained. At event 180, the SIP/IP Core forwards the SIP 200 OK response to the SIP Push Sender Agent.

In another embodiment, rather than the Push Receiver Agent providing its GRUU to the Push Sender Agent in a SIP OPTIONS request, the Push Sender Agent requests the Push Receiver Agent's GRUU from the SIP/IP Core using a SIP SUBSCRIBE message. The SIP/IP Core returns the GRUU value of the Push Receiver Agent in a SIP NOTIFY message, and the Push Sender Agent then uses this GRUU to send the Push Receiver Agent a SIP OPTIONS request requesting the Push Receiver Agent's capabilities.

FIG. 2 depicts an example message flow between a SIP Push client (or SIP Push Receiver Agent) 10, a SIP/IP Core 20, and a SIP PUSH server (or SIP Push Sender Agent) 30 under this embodiment. At event 210, the SIP Push Sender Agent sends the SIP/IP Core a SIP SUBSCRIBE request. The following is an embodiment of the SIP SUBSCRIBE request:

SUBSCRIBE sip: sip:alice@atlanta.com SIP/2.0 Via: SIP/2.0/UDP host.network.net;branch=z9hG4bK9zz8 Max-Forwards: 70 From: <sip:pushserver@network.net>;tag=kkaz- To: <sip:alice@atlanta.com> Call-ID: faif9a@host.network.net CSeq: 2 SUBSCRIBE Event: reg Expires: 3600 Contact: <sip:pushserver@network.net> Content-Length: 0

At event 220, the SIP/IP Core receives the SIP SUBSCRIBE request and sends a SIP 200 OK response to SIP Push Sender Agent. At event 230, the SIP/IP Core sends the SIP Push Sender Agent a SIP NOTIFY containing the public GRUU value of the SIP Push Receiver Agent that was obtained during the registration process. The following is an embodiment of the SIP NOTIFY request:

NOTIFY sip: sip:pushserver@@network.net SIP/2.0 Via: SIP/2.0/UDP host.network.net;branch=z9hG4bK9zz8 Max-Forwards: 70 From: <sip: sipipcore@network.net>;tag=kkaa- Request-URI: <sip:pushserver@network.net> Call-ID: faif9a@host.network.net CSeq: 2 NOTIFY Event: reg Subscription-State: active;expires=3600 Content-Type: application/reginfo+xml Contact: <sip:sipipcore@network.net> Content-Length: <?xml version=“1.0”?> <reginfo xmlns=“urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:reginfo”  xmlns:gr=“urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:gruuinfo”  version=“1” state=“full”> <registration aor=“sip:alice@atlanta.com” id=“a7”  state=“active”> <contact id=“92” state=“active” event=“registered” duration-registered=“1” expires=”3599” callid=“faif9a@pc33.atlanta.com” cseq=“23001”> <uri> sip:alice@pc33.atlanta.com </uri> <allOneLine> <unknown-param name=“+sip.instance”> “&lt;<urn:uuid:f81d4fae-7dec-11d0-a765-00a0c91e6bf6&gt;” </unknown-param> </allOneLine> <allOneLine> <gr:pub-gruu uri=“ sip:alice@atlanta.com;gr=urn:uuid:f81d4fae-7dec-11d0-a765-00a0c91e6bf6”/> </allOneLine> <allOneLine> <gr:temp-gruu uri=“sip:8ffkas08af7fasklzi9@atlanta.com ;gr” first-cseq=“54301”/> </allOneLine> </contact> <contact id=“93” state=“active” event=“registered” duration-registered=“1” expires=“3599” callid=“fae678@pc33.atlanta.com” cseq=“23001”> <uri>  sip:alice@pc33.atlanta.com </uri> <allOneLine> <unknown-param name=“+sip.instance”> “&lt;urn:uuid:fa2358-7dec-11d0-b678-00c0b27d6ac9&gt;” </unknown-param> </allOneLine> <allOneLine> <gr:pub-gruu uri=“ sip:alice@atlanta.com;gr=urn:uuid:fa2358-7dec-11d0-b678-00c0b27d6ac9”/> </allOneLine> <allOneLine> <gr:temp-gruu uri=“sip:afas8i9708klzffkasf@atlanta.com ;gr”first-cseq=“54102”/> </allOneLine> </contact> </registration> </reginfo>

At event 240, the SIP Push Sender Agent sends a SIP 200 OK to the SIP/IP Core. At event 250, the SIP Push Sender Agent sends the SIP/IP Core a SIP OPTIONS request containing, in the Request-URI, the public GRUU of the SIP Push Receiver Agent. That is, the SIP OPTIONS request is addressed to the SIP Push Receiver Agent with the specified GRUU. The following is an embodiment of the SIP OPTIONS request:

OPTIONS sip:alice@atlanta.com;gr=urn:uuid:f81d4fae-7dec-11d0- a765-00a0c91e6bf6 SIP/2.0 Via: SIP/2.0/UDP pc33.atlanta.com;branch=z9hG4bKhjhs8ass877 Max-Forwards: 70 To: <sip:alice@atlanta.com> From: <sip:pushserver@network.com>;tag=1928301779 P-Asserted-Identity: <sip:pushserver@network.com> Call-ID: a84b4c76e66719 CSeq: 63104 OPTIONS Contact: <sip:pushserver@network.com>;+g.oma.pusheventapp=“mms” Allow: INVITE, ACK, CANCEL, OPTIONS, BYE, MESSAGE Supported: gruu Accept: message/external-body,application/Dev-cap Content-Length: 0

At event 260, the SIP/IP Core forwards the SIP OPTIONS request to the SIP Push Receiver Agent with the specified GRUU. At event 270, the SIP Push Receiver Agent sends a SIP 200 OK response containing information related to the capabilities of the SIP Push Receiver Agent to the SIP/IP Core. The SIP 200 OK response may also include a body containing additional Push Options or a URI from which additional Push Options can be obtained. The following is an embodiment of the SIP 200 OK response:

SIP/2.0 200 OK Via: SIP/2.0/UDP pc33.atlanta.com;branch=z9hG4bKhjhs8ass877;received=192.0.2.4 To: <sip:alice@atlanta.com>;tag=93810879 From: <sip:pushserver@network.com>;tag=1928301779 Call-ID: a84b4c76e66719 CSeq: 63104 OPTIONS Supported: gruu Contact:<sip:alice@atlanta.com>;gr=urn:uuid:f81d4fae-7dec-11d0- a765-00a0c91e6bf2;+g.oma.pusheventapp=“mms” Allow: INVITE, ACK, CANCEL, OPTIONS, BYE, METHOD User-Agent: vendor=“vendor.example.net”;model=“Z-phone”;version=“1.2.3” Content-Length: 274 Content-Type: message/external-body; ACCESS-TYPE=“URL” URL=“http://www.example.com/useragentprofile/07242002”; EXPIRATION =“Mon, 23 June 2008 09:00:00 GMT”; size=4123 Content-Type: application/Dev-cap Content-Disposition: attachment Content-ID: 4e5562cd1214427d@example.net

At event 280, the SIP/IP Core forwards the SIP 200 OK response to the SIP Push Sender Agent.

In another embodiment, the SIP Push Sender Agent could obtain the GRUU using a third party registration mechanism that contains a body containing the contents of the original SIP REGISTER request. The original SIP REGISTER request may include the Contact header values from the original SIP REGISTER request sent by SIP Push Receiver Agent. The body might not directly contain a GRUU, but the Contact header of the original SIP REGISTER request might contain the sip.instance feature tag. If the SIP Push Sender Agent knows that the policy of the SIP/IP core is to derive the public GRUU from the registered PUI or AoR with the “gr” parameter of the public GRUU set equal to the value of the sip.instance feature tag in the Contact header of the original SIP REGISTER request, then the SIP Push Sender Agent can also derive the GRUU of the SIP Push Receiver Agent that just registered.

The components described above might include a processing component that is capable of executing instructions related to the actions described above. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a system 1300 that includes a processing component 1310 suitable for implementing one or more embodiments disclosed herein. In addition to the processor 1310 (which may be referred to as a central processor unit or CPU), the system 1300 might include network connectivity devices 1320, random access memory (RAM) 1330, read only memory (ROM) 1340, secondary storage 1350, and input/output (I/O) devices 1360. These components might communicate with one another via a bus 1370. In some cases, some of these components may not be present or may be combined in various combinations with one another or with other components not shown. These components might be located in a single physical entity or in more than one physical entity. Any actions described herein as being taken by the processor 1310 might be taken by the processor 1310 alone or by the processor 1310 in conjunction with one or more components shown or not shown in the drawing, such as a digital signal processor (DSP) 1380. Although the DSP 1380 is shown as a separate component, the DSP 1380 might be incorporated into the processor 1310.

The processor 1310 executes instructions, codes, computer programs, or scripts that it might access from the network connectivity devices 1320, RAM 1330, ROM 1340, or secondary storage 1350 (which might include various disk-based systems such as hard disk, floppy disk, or optical disk). While only one CPU 1310 is shown, multiple processors may be present. Thus, while instructions may be discussed as being executed by a processor, the instructions may be executed simultaneously, serially, or otherwise by one or multiple processors. The processor 1310 may be implemented as one or more CPU chips.

The network connectivity devices 1320 may take the form of modems, modem banks, Ethernet devices, universal serial bus (USB) interface devices, serial interfaces, token ring devices, fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) devices, wireless local area network (WLAN) devices, radio transceiver devices such as code division multiple access (CDMA) devices, global system for mobile communications (GSM) radio transceiver devices, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) devices, and/or other well-known devices for connecting to networks. These network connectivity devices 1320 may enable the processor 1310 to communicate with the Internet or one or more telecommunications networks or other networks from which the processor 1310 might receive information or to which the processor 1310 might output information. The network connectivity devices 1320 might also include one or more transceiver components 1325 capable of transmitting and/or receiving data wirelessly.

The RAM 1330 might be used to store volatile data and perhaps to store instructions that are executed by the processor 1310. The ROM 1340 is a non-volatile memory device that typically has a smaller memory capacity than the memory capacity of the secondary storage 1350. ROM 1340 might be used to store instructions and perhaps data that are read during execution of the instructions. Access to both RAM 1330 and ROM 1340 is typically faster than to secondary storage 1350. The secondary storage 1350 is typically comprised of one or more disk drives or tape drives and might be used for non-volatile storage of data or as an over-flow data storage device if RAM 1330 is not large enough to hold all working data. Secondary storage 1350 may be used to store programs that are loaded into RAM 1330 when such programs are selected for execution.

The I/O devices 1360 may include liquid crystal displays (LCDs), touch screen displays, keyboards, keypads, switches, dials, mice, track balls, voice recognizers, card readers, paper tape readers, printers, video monitors, or other well-known input/output devices. Also, the transceiver 1325 might be considered to be a component of the I/O devices 1360 instead of or in addition to being a component of the network connectivity devices 1320.

In an embodiment, a method is provided for delivering the capabilities of user agents. The method includes a user agent sending a SIP message containing a Contact Header containing a Push Resource Identifier feature tag containing at least one push resource.

In an alternative embodiment, a SIP push receiver agent is provided. The push receiver agent includes a component configured such that the push receiver agent sends a SIP message containing a Contact Header containing a Push Resource Identifier feature tag containing at least one push resource.

In an alternative embodiment, a SIP push sender agent is provided. The push sender agent includes a component configured such that the push sender agent receives a SIP message containing a Contact Header containing a Push Resource Identifier feature tag containing at least one push resource.

The following 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Specifications (TS), and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Requests For Comments (RFC) are incorporated herein by reference: [RFC 3261] Session Initiation Protocol, [RFC 3265] Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-Specific Event Notification, [RFC 3680] Registration Event Package, [draft-ietf-sip-gruu] Obtaining and Using Globally Routable User Agent (UA) URIs (GRUU) in the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), [draft-ieff-sipping-gruu-reg-event] GRUU registration events, OMA-TS-SIP_Push-V1_(—)0-20080416-D, 3GPP TS 23.218, and 3GPP TS 24.229.

While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods may be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is not to be limited to the details given herein. For example, the various elements or components may be combined or integrated in another system or certain features may be omitted, or not implemented.

Also, techniques, systems, subsystems and methods described and illustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may be combined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, or methods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Other items shown or discussed as coupled or directly coupled or communicating with each other may be indirectly coupled or communicating through some interface, device, or intermediate component, whether electrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of changes, substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in the art and could be made without departing from the spirit and scope disclosed herein. 

1. A method for delivering the capabilities of user agents (UAs) comprising: a UA sending a session initiation protocol (SIP) message containing a Contact Header containing a Push Resource Identifier feature tag containing at least one push resource.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the Contact Header further contains a Globally Routable UA Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) (GRUU).
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the SIP message further contains a header containing the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type “message/external-body”.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the header further contains a URI that points to the UA's Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) UA Profile document.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the header is an Accept Header.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the header is an Accept Header.
 7. The method of claim 3, wherein the header is a Content-Type Header.
 8. The method of claim 4, wherein the header is a Content-Type Header.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the SIP message further contains an Allow header containing the SIP Methods supported by the UA.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the SIP message further contains a body.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the SIP message further contains “attachment” in a Content-Disposition.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the SIP message further contains a User-Agent header containing at least one of: a model of the Push Receiver Agent; a vendor of the Push Receiver Agent; and a version of the Push Receiver Agent.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the SIP message is a SIP OPTIONS Request.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the SIP message is a SIP 200 OK Response.
 15. A Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Push Receiver Agent comprising: a component configured such that the Push Receiver Agent sends a SIP message containing a Contact Header containing a Push Resource Identifier feature tag containing at least one push resource.
 16. The Push Receiver Agent of claim 15, wherein the Contact Header further contains a Globally Routable UA Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) (GRUU).
 17. The Push Receiver Agent of claim 15, wherein the SIP message further contains a header containing the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type “message/external-body”.
 18. The Push Receiver Agent of claim 17, wherein the header further contains a URI that points to the Push Receiver Agent's Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) UA Profile document.
 19. The Push Receiver Agent of claim 17, wherein the header is an Accept Header.
 20. The Push Receiver Agent of claim 18, wherein the header is an Accept Header.
 21. The Push Receiver Agent of claim 17, wherein the header is a Content-Type Header.
 22. The Push Receiver Agent of claim 18, wherein the header is a Content-Type Header.
 23. The Push Receiver Agent of claim 15, wherein the SIP message further contains an Allow header containing the SIP Methods supported by the Push Receiver Agent.
 24. The Push Receiver Agent of claim 15, wherein the SIP message further contains a body.
 25. The Push Receiver Agent of claim 24, wherein the SIP message further contains “attachment” in a Content-Disposition.
 26. The Push Receiver Agent of claim 15, wherein the SIP message further contains a User-Agent header containing at least one of: a model of the Push Receiver Agent; a vendor of the Push Receiver Agent; and a version of the Push Receiver Agent.
 27. The Push Receiver Agent of claim 15, wherein the SIP message is a SIP OPTIONS Request.
 28. The Push Receiver Agent of claim 15, wherein, upon receiving a SIP OPTIONS request, a SIP 200 OK response that includes information related to the sender's capabilities is sent.
 29. The Push Receiver Agent of claim 15, wherein the SIP message is a SIP 200 OK Response.
 30. A Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Push Sender Agent comprising: a component configured such that the Push Sender Agent receives a SIP message containing a Contact Header containing a Push Resource Identifier feature tag containing at least one push resource.
 31. The Push Sender Agent of claim 30, wherein the Contact Header further contains a Globally Routable UA Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) (GRUU).
 32. The Push Sender Agent of claim 30, wherein the SIP message further contains a header containing the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type “message/external-body”.
 33. The Push Sender Agent of claim 32, wherein the header further contains a URI that points to the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) UA Profile document of a Push Receiver Agent that sent the message.
 34. The Push Sender Agent of claim 32, wherein the header is an Accept Header.
 35. The Push Sender Agent of claim 33, wherein the header is an Accept Header.
 36. The Push Sender Agent of claim 32, wherein the header is a Content-Type Header.
 37. The Push Sender Agent of claim 33, wherein the header is a Content-Type Header.
 38. The Push Sender Agent of claim 30, wherein the SIP message further contains an Allow header containing the SIP Methods supported by a Push Receiver Agent that sent the message.
 39. The Push Sender Agent of claim 30, wherein the SIP message further contains a body.
 40. The Push Sender Agent of claim 39, wherein the SIP message further contains “attachment” in a Content-Disposition.
 41. The Push Sender Agent of claim 30, wherein the SIP message further contains a User-Agent header containing at least one of: a model of a Push Receiver Agent that sent the message; a vendor of the Push Receiver Agent that sent the message; and a version of the Push Receiver Agent that sent the message.
 42. The Push Sender Agent of claim 30, wherein the SIP message is a SIP OPTIONS Request.
 43. The Push Sender Agent of claim 42, wherein, upon receiving the SIP OPTIONS request, a SIP 200 OK response that includes information related to the sender's capabilities is sent.
 44. The Push Sender Agent of claim 30, wherein the SIP message is a SIP 200 OK Response. 